‘Encouraging signs’ in Schumacher recovery – manager

Michael Schumacher is showing “small, encouraging signs” in his long recovery from “severe injuries”, the seven time world champion’s management announced on Wednesday in a rare official update.

The statement follows speculation the great former Ferrari and Mercedes driver’s family has now been told Schumacher, 45, is unlikely to recover, almost eleven weeks into his coma after a skiing fall in the French alps.

But Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm said in the communique on Wednesday: “We are confident Michael will pull through and will wake up.

“There sometimes are small, encouraging signs, but we also know this is the time to be very patient.”

The Schumacher camp has been criticised for not disclosing enough information to the media and his legions of fans about the German’s recovery.

Wednesday’s statement said the family is in fact “extremely grateful” for the sympathy and interest, but “it should not be forgotten Michael’s family is dealing with an extremely intimate and fragile situation.

“It is very hard to comprehend for all of us that Michael, who had overcome a lot of precarious situations in the past, has been hurt so terribly in such a banal situation,” Kehm said.